Pattern Giveaway Winners

Hi Girls, a quick post just to announce the winners of the pattern giveaway I announced a few weeks back. I know I am late, very late, but things have been a little topsy-turvy on the health front with very little that I could do about it. I am sure you don't want any of the boring details so on to the announcement.

And the winners are.......TaDa...drum roll please......,

Anna from Annasimplecrochet

And

Ruth from Rose Hill Collections

So, lucky girls, please write to me at crochetkari@gmail.com so that I know which email id you want me to send the pattern PDF.

Both the lovely girls above have pretty blogs and they show off some really wonderful crochet creations, so do visit them.

For all my other beautiful friends out there, if you did not win this time do not despair, I have a few more patterns lined up and I will be showing them off soon... health permitting!!!  :(

A small note: If you have any questions about patterns, hooks, yarns or anything else, please write to me only at crochetkari@gmail.com. This will help me to reply to you specifically and you will get faster replies. 

Well, I hate posts that have no pics so here is one just for you;

I found this on Facebook, if you are aware of the source please let me know.

This is my surefire way to solve all problems in my life especially health issues as crochet works like meditation for me. Hehe... it also works as an excuse to avoid any other form of exercise...LOL. Now you can't crochet on the treadmill...can you?!

Until my next post, which might be a while, as I am off to Mumbai for a short trip....see ya. Make time for craft everyday.

2nd Blog Anniversary and Pattern Giveaway

Hi friends, yes it is me, still alive and kicking crocheting, and posting after almost a month!!!

Last month, that is the month of May was supposed to be one of celebration, fanfare, pattern giveaway, free pattern tutorials, book tours and many more things that I had planned, as my blog turned Two! Yes, that's right my blog is now two years old. What I had not planned for, was the scorching, searing and debilitating heatwave that swept through Ahmedabad. With temperatures reaching 46oC, most afternoons I had headaches, nausea, dizziness and I dare say a couple of bouts of disorientation!! A check up has now revealed that my blood pressure is a bit on the higher side, so I have been prescribed pills for the same.....blah blah.

Finally when I gather all my senses and decide to write a very overdue post you will not guess what happened!!!!  My blog had disappeared...yup that's right it was just not seen. A frantic SOS to my brother (my one and only 24/7 tech support) and a few days later, things were in place again. What a relief!!

So, here I am writing my first post in my second year of blogging. A big Thank you to all my dear readers for sticking with me. Of course I wish you would comment more, just because I love to hear from you. Since very few people (read that as exactly three!!) around me actually crochet, my blog is a way to reach out and connect with kindred souls or crochet sisters. :)

To mark my blog anniversary, I have decided to giveaway TWO copies of my very first crochet pattern PDF - The Cluster Stitch Cuffed Infinity scarf. :) 

Also check out my last post.

Here is what you have to do:

1) Become a follower of my blog.

2) "Like" my Crochetkari Facebook Fanpage.

3) Comment on this post below.

This giveaway will be open till  28 June 2014, so you have ample time. I will draw the two lucky names and inform you accordingly.

Here are a few more pics for you.

 

As you may have guessed I did not actually crochet all the infinity scarves above. I have added these pics just for fun, also you can get an idea of how it will look in different colors. Well, when Sonny boy is doing his Bachelors in VFX and Animation, Blogger Mom has to utilize it somewhere, right?

You can also get my pattern on Etsy and Craftsy.  :)

Hopefully I should manage all my unfulfilled blogging tasks of May, in June, ...fingers crossed  :)

Let me know what crafty adventures you are up to. I am working on a lovely blue baby blanket, as well as a delicate pastel shawl. But more about them in my next posts.

Take care and make time for craft  :)

Birthday Goodies

Hi Friends, remember me?

Well, I wouldn't blame you if you don't remember me since I disappeared for so loooong. I was actually jolted out of my stupor after reading THIS post by Sharon, that is when I realised that I had been neglecting my blog and my lovely friends too. I know you will forgive me but you see this is what happens when overgrown kids get too many toys to play.

Confused? I am referring to the presents I got for my birthday. As Aishwarya rightly pointed out I spent my birthday, which was on 10th of September, in Mumbai. And much to my surprise I got a lot of pressies which I was not expecting at all.

Firstly I was not happy about the trip to Mumbai, because;

A) Believe it or not, after all my grumbling, three years down the line I am finally calling  Ahmedabad my Home, and I hate leaving my house to go Anywhere.

B) Hubby could not get any leave from work so it was only me and sonny to Mumbai, which also meant I would spend my B'day without him....Grrrrrrr.

But then, surprise, surprise...Hubby managed to squeeze in two days of leave and reached Mumbai just in time for my birthday.

He also threw a lovely dinner party for me, along with a few of our closest friends at my favorite restaurant, Urban Tadka (at Ghatkopar), and with desserts on the house, what more could I ask for, right?

But wait there is more, a visit to my Mom's place revealed a huge pile of crochet, knitting and craft books bought for my by my brother!! Yes, dozen's actually, plus a whole set of "Stitch by Stitch" books which I think are now a vintage item. All thanks to the eagle eyes of my brother and my sister-in-law, both of them are avid readers and spend most weekends visiting all possible book fairs. Since I couldn't carry all the books back with me as my shoulder is on the verge of popping out of its socket, I picked the most colorful book of the lot. The rest are expected to reach me by courier. So here it is:

Easy Living Crochet By Carol Alexander
(Affiliate link) 

There are a lot of lovely projects in this book and I will give you a book tour soon (ulterior motive... I want to play with our new scanner).

Then a visit to my aunt who had just returned from the U.S. brought forth this goody, something that I have been lusting after for a long, long time...

 

This CD has sixty two issues of Crochet World magazine!!! Can you imagine how many patterns that works out to?!! Even if I make only one fourths of the patterns I think I am set for life... What do you say?

Think that's all......NOOO I am saving the best for last!!!! Guess what was waiting for me in my mailbox back home at Ahmedabad. This fantastic book which I secretly longed for, sent by the lovely Gale from Boocoos Blogthingy, all the way from USA. Now isn't that very very sweet of her. It was the prize of a giveaway but as I firmly believe in the power of Positive thinking I knew the book was looking for me too. ;) Hehe.

 Crochet Saved My Life
(Affiliate link)

 Ever since I had heard and read about this book I longed for it, (especially since I believed that the lives of People around me was saved because I never put my hook down to pick up any weapon.....haha) and it was definitely on my bucket list. Who knew my wish would come true so soon. Thank you, dear Gale. Did I mention the Bonus - the book is signed by the Author Kathryn Vercillo of Crochet Concupiscence. Now that is a first for me - an author signed copy!

So now tell me, can you really blame me for getting lost, poring (read that as salivating)  over the patterns and the books and forgetting to update my blog!! I am sure you will understand. :)

Now, no visit to Mumbai is complete without a visit to my favourite yarn store - Pradhan's of course. I got a lot of yarny goodies...kilos actually but more about that in a later post.
So do come back for the book tour, my review of "Crochet Saved My Life" and to see my yarn extravaganza.

Have a great weekend. Happy crafting.

Crochet Textured Scarf

Hi friends! I hope the week has begun wonderfully for you. We are enjoying a deliciously cold winter in Ahmedabad. I know that my friends who are actually experiencing snow and minus degrees may laugh at my idea of a "cold" winter as the temperatures here are in the range of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. But for a Mumbai gal like me this is definitely cold. 

And I for one, am thrilled because it has given me a chance to crochet and, also knit, winter items. I just finished crocheting a lovely textured scarf in a gorgeous ivory yarn. Can you imagine I had this yarn in my stash for the past seven years!! I refused to touch the yarn till I found the right pattern. Well, I did find the Right pattern. This scarf is designed by the wonderful Kara of Petals to Picots. I think Kara as well as her Petals to Picots site need no introduction. I consider her site a treasure house of crochet with lots of patterns, tutorials and loads of related information. I especially love her Monday 'Pin'spirations and Friday Link Parties. 

Here is my Ivory Textured Scarf:

Isn't it looking lovely? I am sure you want to see the texture up close.

The pattern actually has a "keyhole" feature and a fringe. But as I was not sure I could manage hanging scarf tails I made a slight modification and added two pearl buttons. So now I can wear my scarf long or button it up and wrap it around twice to form a cowl. 

 Luckily I had these buttons in my stash. Do you think they match the scarf?



Here is my scarf cowl

The pattern also includes a nice spiral flower which I plan to make in metallic thread and use as a brooch. You can find the pattern for this wonderful scarf and many other beautiful items designed by Kara HERE.

When I popped in at Kara's to tell her that I finished making the scarf, imagine my delight to see that my Mustard doily has been featured in her "I ♥ Fridays Link Party".

Isn't that peachy? This is the second time I am being featured, the first time around it was my Rainbow mandala. 

A big thanks to all of you for your best wishes in my last post. A very warm welcome to all my new followers. 

That is all for today. Off I go to tackle my next project. :-) What are you going to make this week?

Take care 

 

A Good Beginning

Hello beautiful people. How are you in the new year? For me, the new year has begun very well. What with new yarn and a new bookcase I now have some more new items to add to the list.

As my confidence as a blogger grew, I started exploring new things and one of them was Giveaways. Initially I just did not understand what they were. Once I got the gist of it I gingerly entered a few of them while still not being sure of how they actually worked. Well, wonder of wonders I actually won. Not one but TWO of them. YAY!!!

The first one was the one held by Preeti of Creat-e-witty Unleashed and this is what I won:

Five balls of lovely red metallic crochet thread. Really generous of her. I am thinking of making earrings or hanging ornaments. Of course I am going to keep you posted about it.

Preeti also sent me a nice New Year card which has a lovely painting of an Indian Marriage procession of ancient times, hand printed on palm leaf.

Isn't that nice? Below you can see some intricate details added in the tiny painting.
The strip is only one inch wide!!

The second giveaway was held by Kara at Petals to Picots. And I won the much coveted Sharp Crochet Hook along with a lovely pattern for a Textured scarf designed by Kara. The Sharp Crochet Hook has a pointy end with which you can crochet directly into fabric for edgings and borders without having to use a separate needle to do that. For more information visit their site HERE.

I have already started crocheting the scarf in a lovely ivory coloured yarn and a Ta-Da moment is not far away.  :)

This year I want to explore some more features of Blogger, and blogging in general. So I will be tweaking my blog as and when I learn something new. Any suggestions from you, my friends are most welcome. I am an eager learner. If you find that some of my changes have weird results please do write me a line so that I can remedy that. Which reminds me, the auto spell check does not seem to be working today so excuse typos if any.

Hope you have a lovely, relaxing weekend. Make time for your craft.

Love xxx 

Stash Saturday

Hello dear friends, Are you looking forward to the weekend? I certainly am, because tomorrow I get to meet my bloggy friend Aishwarya.

Yesterday I spoke about another "first" that I want to share with you. From the title it must be obvious that it has something to do with my stash. But this stash is very special as it has come to me from across the seven seas from another  blogger friend, dear Debi at Dly's Hooks and Yarns.

A few days back I saw that Debi had put up some balls of size 10 crochet thread  for sale. Size 10 crochet thread is not available here so I immediately contacted Debi whether she would be willing to send the thread to India if I paid the cost plus shipping. When Debi replied very sweetly that not only would she send me the thread but that it was a gift for me I just could not believe my eyes. I read the email once again (well, actually thrice, lol) to confirm it and then I jumped with joy. [Okay with my "dainty" frame it was only a hop, but you get the idea.]  ;)

My folks, as usual, thought that I was finally losing IT due to too much crochet!!!

The thread arrived on the 25th. Six lovely balls of Aunt Lydia's crochet thread in delicate colours. Would you like to see my lovely gift? 

Well, here it is:

Aren't the colours just gorgeous. A lovely gift from a wonderful friend. Thank you Debi for this beautiful gesture. 

For a long time I had no idea what a Giveaway was. When I learned what they actually were, I did enter a few but I was never lucky to win any. So this is the first time that I am receiving something from a blogger friend, so I am rightfully and proudly very thrilled about it. My husband could not believe it that someone who has never met me has actually sent me a lovely gift. Well, if only he know the pleasures and perks of Blogdom!!

I am now planning on hosting a Giveaway when my Followers reach the 100 mark. So, come on readers, if you have been following my blog for some time, click the button and make it official. And don't forget to mention your blog name in the comments so that I can follow you too.

Have a rocking weekend. Take care and Thank you for visiting.

Love xxx

Giveaway at Crafty in the Med.

Hello there, I have some good news for all of you.

My good friend Amanda from Crafty in the Med is having her First Giveaway and she has some absolutely gorgeous stuff.

Click HERE to read all about it. It is fun and it is easy. I love her blog and I am sure you will too.

Bye, Take care.
Lovexxx